Pushing the envelope, over the top, crossing the line, cutting edge - If you would like to read or share key trends, innovations or breakthroughs that could influence and redefine Loyalty, CRM and Marketing, this is the blog for you.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

What’s your brand’s story?

I was recently sifting through
some marketing trade articles I had collected and came across this compelling
quote from Edward Boches, the chief creative guru at the Mullen agency. It’s
about the difference between good advertising and great advertising:

Good advertising tells you
what a product does and why you should buy it. Great advertising expresses what
a brand stands for and invites you to share in its beliefs.

On the same day while reading
DMNews, I noticed this strategic insight from Aimia Vice President of Knowledge
Development Rick Ferguson:

There’s a difference
between capturing a customer’s wallet and capturing his heart…brands that
integrate emotional components into their loyalty strategy have more opportunities
for retaining their customers and expanding their value.

It struck me that these were really two versions of the same
idea: whether you’re trying to attract or retain customers, you need to strike
an emotional chord—you need a message that customers can relate to and believe
in. You need a good story.

Every product, service
and loyalty program has a story to tell.

The film director John
Sayles once said that he believed his purpose in life was “finding and telling
the stories that move me”. He believed that the stories that moved him also had
the power to move others. I believe that’s part of
our job as marketers—to find the story inherent in the brands we work
for—stories that we believe in and can tell to others.

It’s easy to see that
some brands, often by the nature of their product, have great stories to tell.
Take Nike and last year’s TV spot called “Find Your Greatness”, which showcases
the efforts of a pudgy lad jogging down a country road. The message: if he can
do it, I can do it (with the help of a pair of Nike running shoes, of course).

As Boche points out
Nike’s “advertising doesn’t push shoes; it encourages, inspires and promises
individual achievement.” And for years, even decades now they’ve been doing
this with the stories they tell. But what about the “less interesting”
verticals and brands? Or loyalty programs? Do they really have stories to tell?

Well, here is a recent brand example that really stood out
to me, from a category I didn’t expect it from: beer. With the market so flooded
with craft brews these days, it can be difficult to separate one beer from the
other. And even though I’m a self-proclaimed beer connoisseur, I’m often
stumped by the sheer variety of choices at my local beer market, often choosing
beers on the attractiveness of their label or their geographic location.

But while doing a little research, I recently stumbled upon
the Web site of one of my favorite craft brews, Sierra Nevada, and found they
had an amazing tale to tell. Now the key to a good story is the telling and
Sierra Nevada has a beauty about their rich heritage. It’s featured in a short online video on their home page and if they gave out Academy Awards for this
kind of thing, it would get the best short in the brand storytelling category.

Another example is the excellent story told by the leading loyalty
program…wait a second…I can’t think of a single good
example of a loyalty program with a really good story behind it. So let me put
the question to you: does your loyalty program or a program you know about have
a good story to tell? If yes, let me know.